ESCONDIDO: City might rezone 1,600 acres to attract jobs

Adding 'employment land' could boost median income

Aiming to boost Escondido's median income by attracting
higher-paying employers, city planning officials have proposed
rezoning roughly 1,600 acres near the Sprinter rail line,
Interstate 15 and other major roads as "employment land."

Most of the areas proposed for rezoning have been discussed for
years as potential spots for biotech companies and professional
office buildings, such as 450 acres near downtown, 275 acres near
I-15 and Highway 78, and 80 acres near I-15 and Felicita
Avenue.

But the proposal, which will be presented Wednesday to the City
Council, also suggests rezoning 75 acres northeast of the El Norte
Parkway/I-15 interchange and 265 acres near the Escondido Auto Park
and Nordahl Road Sprinter station.

-- discourage housing on Escondido Boulevard between Sixth and
13th avenues; and

-- encourage more housing on Centre City Parkway near Citracado
Parkway, the area just west of the Albertsons/Home Depot plaza and
in downtown neighborhoods near Grand Avenue.

City officials said the proposal is a crucial first step toward
updating the city's development blueprint, which is called a
"general plan," for the first time in 20 years

The new blueprint will be presented to city voters for approval
in 2012 after public feedback and an environmental study of its
potential impacts.

Most of the land proposed for rezoning is already zoned
industrial and would be rezoned for employment and office.

But 165 acres would be rezoned from residential to employment
and office. Those areas include the 10 acres near Nutmeg Street,
the 80 acres near I-15 and Felicita Avenue and the 75 acres near El
Norte Parkway.

City Councilman Sam Abed said Tuesday that he was pleased with
the proposal, mostly because it calls for new employment land on
transportation corridors where increased activity would not bother
city residents.

"Employment land should be located where it would have the least
impact on residents," said Abed. "People who don't live in the city
can get to the jobs without having to travel through the
residential parts of the city."

Abed and his colleagues have also long complained about
Escondido's median income, which remained the lowest among the nine
cities in North County during 2009.

Creating more industrial land would help solve that problem, he
said.

According to a 2009 study by the county's regional planning
agency, the percentage of industrial land in Escondido was 3.4
percent, which was well below Poway at 5.1 percent, Vista at 10.2
percent, San Marcos at 10.3 percent, Oceanside at 10.8 percent and
Carlsbad at 22.9 percent.

Councilman Dick Daniels said rezoning so much land will help the
city attract new employers because it will make development easier
and send a message that Escondido is committed to becoming a jobs
and technology hub.

"This makes it just punch and play, so to speak," said Daniels.
"This indicates we're interested and we're looking ahead."

Councilwoman Marie Waldron said she was pleased with the
proposal because it would help maximize the amount of employment
land along I-15.

But Waldron said she wanted more specifics on some of the
proposed areas. She also said she wants the city to consider
changing Valley Parkway and Second Avenue back into two-way streets
instead of one-way streets downtown to improve commerce there.

Dave Ferguson, a local land-use attorney who served as chairman
of a general plan volunteer task force this year, said the proposed
rezonings reflect the task force's recommendations. He said city
officials subsequently added a few more areas, and he praised their
choices.

Details on the general plan update can be found at
www.escondido.org/gp-update/index.html.